working

ADVERTISERS

Sports Outside the Beltway

NFL Draft 2011 Round 1 #20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers DE Adrian Clayborn

NFL.com says-

Clayborn has the ability to be a very good starting defensive end in a 3-4 or 4-3 front and can play some defensive tackle in passing situations. Smart, instinctual player, especially against the run. Doesn’t stay blocked long and can stop the running game right at him. Uses his hands and power to take a direct route to the quarterback. Doesn’t possess elite quickness or top-end speed which limits his big-play ability rushing the passer, away from him in the running game, and in space. Clayborn could draw interest from several clubs due to his versatility. Probable first round pick.

 

NFL Draft 2010 – Round 4 #21- Miami- LB A.J. Edds

The Dolphins pick another linebacker. I wonder how much this move was forced by their Jerry selection. Other needs, Tight End and Safety, got postponed too long.

NFL.com writes- Pick analysis- The Dolphins add A.J Edds to provide depth to their linebacker corps and special teams units. Though he isn’t regarded as a great athlete, Edds is a high-motor player with the toughness and competitiveness to excel as a back up.

Edds has been a productive three year starter for the Hawkeye defense. He wins with intelligence, toughness, instincts and technique rather than elite athleticism. Edds has decent range in pursuit and is aggressive to the pile. He is effective leveraging tight ends but needs added strength and power to set the edge versus larger offensive lineman. Edds needs to react quicker as route progressions unfold but has enough athleticism and instincts to be an effective zone coverage defender. He may be a liability in man schemes versus athletic tight ends and backs. Edds is a reliable open field tackler but not explosive on contact. Edds is a good football player that will likely contribute on special teams as well as giving valuable depth in his rookie season.

 

NFL Draft 2010 – Round 1 #23- Green Bay OT Bryan Bulaga

NFL.com writes- Pick Analysis: The Packers add a quality offensive tackle prospect with the selection of Bryan Bulaga. Although the team has a pair of veterans in Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher in place to start in 2010, Bulaga gives the team much-needed depth and an eventual successor to develop for the future.

Overview

Bulaga is a good, not a great, talent as a left tackle. Like most Iowa linemen he will come into the league with a good understanding of the game as well as the position he plays. He understands angles and blocking schemes and is quick to recognize and adjust to games up front. He is quick to set the edge and knows how to get a good fit with his hands but will struggle when speed rushers transfer that speed into power. He can be inconsistent with his footwork and is not an elite athlete for the position but there is enough there to make an eventual starter at left tackle.

 

2010 NCAA Women’s Tournament Bracket

Here it is-

2010 Women's bracket

Like with the Men’s tournament, I’ll take a shot at making some guesses predictions in the women’s also.

 

Former MLB Pitcher Hal Manders dead at 92

He was a cousin of Hall of Famer Bob Feller. RIP.

Waukee native and former Major League Baseball player Harold “Hal” Manders died Thursday at The Village at Legacy Pointe in Waukee. He was 92.

Manders, a right-handed pitcher, played parts of three seasons in the majors (1941, ’42 and ’46), mostly with the Detroit Tigers — but also two games with the Chicago Cubs.

He broke into the majors, at age 24, in the same season as future Yankees star Phil Rizzuto. The 1941 baseball season Manders is remembered for Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak — still a major-league record — and the .406 batting average of Ted Williams (no player has hit over .400 since).

In 30 major-league games, Manders produced a 3-1 record and 4.77 ERA, with an equal number of walks and strikeouts (28).

Manders, who attended the University of Iowa, was the cousin of Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller.

 

2010 NFL Draft to include record tying 53 non-seniors

The 2008 NFL Draft also saw the same amount of under classmen. In 2009 the total was 46. From AP-

The expected heavy influx of non-seniors applying for this year’s NFL draft did not happen despite looming labor unrest in the league.

Although a record-tying 53 players declared for early entry, that number released Tuesday by the NFL was short of most projections.

“I think that the colleges have really done a good job of telling these young men how it is to their advantage to stay in school,” said NFL draft consultant Gil Brandt, who helped build the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. “I thought there would be more and I was surprised.”

Six All-Americans did apply for the draft: defensive backs Eric Berry of Tennessee and Joe Haden of Florida; defensive end Derrick Morgan of Georgia Tech; tight end Aaron Hernandez of Florida; linebacker Rolando McClain of Alabama; and wide receiver Golden Tate of Notre Dame.

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, also declared for April’s draft, along with Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead; Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen; Southern California running back Joe McKnight; Cal running back Jahvid Best; Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap; and Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman.

Fresno State tailback Ryan Mathews, the nation’s leading rusher, applied. So did tackles Bryan Bulaga of Iowa and Anthony Davis of Rutgers, who are projected to go high in the draft.

I remember when Herschel Walker came out of school(U of Georgia) early and all the controversy it caused. A Herschel Walker today wouldn’t risk a potential big payday in the NFL either.

What I don’t get is how some experts expected the total of non-seniors to be around 100 or a 100% increase from last year. Maybe I’ll find an article that list the college players who stuck it out. A free college education should be valued. One day your sports playing days will end and what will you do for money then? Look at Bernie Kosar who left the University of Miami early for the NFL. Right now he is bankruptcy court.

The entire list of college underclassman declaring for this year’s NFL draft is below the fold.

 

Are you ready for some bowling? II

No I’m not talking about some middle aged man propelling a ball at some objects at the end of a lane, but the games that climax every college football season. Bowl season officially starts this afternoon, here are the matchups for all the college football fanatics out there.

Note- I gave the shortened name version of all the upcoming games. Also I listed what broadcast network would be televising the game and what time they would be coming on the air. All times are Eastern Standard.

Dec 19

New Mexico- Fresno State vs. Wyoming 4:30 p.m. ESPN
St. Petersburg- Central Florida vs. Rutgers 8 p.m. ESPN

Dec 20

R+L Carriers New Orleans- Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee 8:30 p.m. ESPN

Dec 22

MAACO Las Vegas- Oregon State vs. BYU 8 p.m. ESPN

Dec 23

Poinsettia- Utah vs. Cal 8 p.m. ESPN

Dec 24

Sheraton Hawaii- Nevada vs. SMU 8 p.m. ESPN
Dec 26

Little Caesars- Marshall vs. Ohio 1 p.m. ESPN
Meineke- Pitt vs. North Carolina 4:30 p.m. ESPN
Emerald- Boston College vs. USC 8 p.m. ESPN

Dec 27

Music City- Kentucky vs. Clemson 8:30 p.m. ESPN

Dec 28

Independence- Texas A&M vs. Georgia 5 p.m. ESPN2

Dec 29

EagleBank- UCLA vs. Temple 4:30 p.m. ESPN
Champs Sports- Miami vs. Wisconsin 8 p.m. ESPN

Dec 30

Humanitarian- Bowling Green vs. Idaho 4:30 p.m. ESPN
Holiday- Arizona vs. Nebraska 8 p.m. ESPN

Dec 31

Armed Forces- Houston vs. Air Force Noon ESPN
Sun- Oklahoma vs. Stanford 2 p.m. CBS
Texas- Navy vs. Missouri 3:30 p.m. ESPN
Minnesota vs. Iowa State 6 p.m. NFL Network
Chick-fil-A- Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee 7:30 p.m. ESPN

Jan 1

Outback- Northwestern vs. Auburn 11 a.m. ESPN
Capital One- Penn State vs. LSU 1 p.m. ABC
Gator- West Virginia vs. Florida State 1 p.m. CBS
Rose Bowl- Ohio State vs. Oregon 4:30 p.m. ABC
Sugar- Cincinnati vs. Florida 8:30 p.m. FOX

Jan 2

International- South Florida vs. Northern Illinois Noon ESPN2
Papajohns.com- South Carolina vs. UConn 2 p.m. ESPN
Cotton- Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss 2 p.m. FOX
Liberty- Arkansas vs. East Carolina 5:30 p.m. ESPN
Valero Alamo- Michigan State vs. Texas Tech 9 p.m. ESPN

Jan 4

Fiesta- Boise State vs. TCU 8 p.m. FOX

Jan 5

FedEx Orange- Iowa vs. Georgia Tech 8 p.m. FOX

Jan 6th

GMAC- Central Michigan vs. Troy 7 p.m. ESPN

Jan 7th

BCS National Championship Game- Texas vs. Alabama Jan. 7 8 p.m.

Some random notes on the above 34 games

*- 19 of the 34 games are not scheduled till Dec. 31st or later. I guess college football fanatics are expected to flip channels very quickly on those 3 days(Dec 31-Jan 2) when 15 games are being aired.
*- What a downer must it be for Oregon State players and fans. A few weeks ago they were one win from a Rose Bowl trip. Instead they lost to Oregon and are playing in a minor bowl before Christmas.
*- The NFL network televises a college football game. I guess that’s the cable sports equivalent of the Sci-Fi channel showing wrestling….
*- The bowls are now set where now certain conference finishers are locked into the same bowl games every year. I understand why the current system is done, but I prefer the day when bowl games would have greater variance from year to year. The Peach bowl would usually invite a ACC or SEC school but they could be creative, like when they invited Army and Illinois. Wouldn’t a SEC team against BYU or Wyoming be nice for a change?
*- Bobby Bowden’s farewell game is against the same school(West Virginia) that he left before coming to Florida State. I do know FSU and WV have played at least twice previously in bowls during the Bowden-Florida State era.

 

Out of luck- Northwestern beats Iowa 17-10

Hawkeye starting Quarterback left the game with an injury also. From AP-

Dan Persa threw a touchdown pass and Marshall Thomas recovered a fumble for another touchdown, and Northwestern snapped Iowa’s 13-game winning streak with a 17-10 victory on Saturday.

Iowa had been the masters of the fourth-quarter comeback until Saturday’s loss, rallying to win their previous four contests when trailing to start the final period.

It was the first win over a top-10 opponent for the Wildcats (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten) since knocking off then-No. 6 Ohio State 33-27 in overtime in 2004.

Iowa (No. 4 BCS, No. 8 AP) lost quarterback Ricky Stanzi to an apparent ankle injury early in the second quarter. Freshman James Vandenberg was just 9 of 27 for 82 yards filling, and couldn’t lead the Hawkeyes (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) to any points after Stanzi left the game.

Call me a prophet if you want, but I had a feeling after their close call against Indiana that Iowa would lose a game prior to bowl season.

 

Iowa and Washington State Football Coach Forest Evashevski dead at 91

He led Iowa to two winning Rose Bowl appearances and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. RIP.

Forest Evashevski, the former Michigan football star coached Iowa to two Rose Bowl victories in the 1950s, has died. He was 91.

Evashevski’s son, Forest Evashevski Jr., said Saturday that his father died Friday night from cancer at his home in Petoskey, Mich.

Evashevski said his father’s seven children, including five sons and two daughters, and wife Ruth, were at his bedside when he died.

Evashevski, the captain of Michigan’s 1940 team, was hired at Iowa in 1952, seven years after Iowa’s last winning season. He inherited a program that had languished in the bottom of the Big Ten.

But by 1956 the Hawkeyes were in the Rose Bowl, defeating Oregon State 35-19. They went again in the 1958 season, beating California 38-12. Evashevski won 52 games at Iowa, where he coached until 1960. He also led the team to three Big Ten championships.

 

Pocketful of Miracles- Iowa beats Indiana 42-24

For the 4th time this college football season, the Hawkeyes launched a successful late comeback. From AP-

Of all the holes Iowa has dug itself, this was the deepest.

Indiana was leading by 14 in the third quarter and just two yards away from the Hawkeyes’ end zone. Given how poorly quarterback Ricky Stanzi was playing, one more touchdown might have brought their charmed season crashing down.

It was the second straight week and fourth time this season that Iowa has won a game after trailing entering the fourth quarter.

Tyler Sash instead returned an interception 86 yards for a touchdown, and Stanzi bounced back from a career-high five interceptions to rally the Hawkeyes (No. 4 BCS, No. 7 AP) to a 42-24 victory, yet another improbable finish in a season full of them.

Brandon Wegher had a career-high 118 yards rushing and three TDs for the Hawkeyes (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten), who scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to stun the shell-shocked Hoosiers.

“No matter what happens, we know there’s still time left on the clock,” Stanzi said. “There’s a chance to win, so you can’t give up.”

Iowa is off to the best start in school history, thanks to four wins by three points or less. And after needing two blocked field goals to beat FCS school Northern Iowa in its opener, the Hawks control their own destiny in the Big Ten — with a chance to play for the BCS title.

Iowa controls its own destiny but can they continue spotting teams the lead every week? I got a feeling they are in for a tumble before the Bowl games are all worked out.

The Hawkeyes still have games left with Northwestern(5-3), Ohio State(7-2), and Minnesota(4-4). Only the game against the Buckeyes isn’t being played at Iowa.

| | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  • OTB Sports linked with Out of luck- Northwestern beats Iowa 17-10...
 
 


Visitors Since Feb. 4, 2003

All original content copyright 2003-2008 by OTB Media. All rights reserved.